Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur. The locals call it KL. So, it might not be all it's cracked up to be in terms of originality, it does get straight to the point. I arrived in KL quite early in the morning and found the hotel where Brian was staying at. After a few nights of bushwhacking it, I was happy to revive myself in fairly modern, comfortable hotel!

Naturally, I woke up well before Brian and decided to go out and grab a quick bite for breakfast. We were staying in Little India and the area was quite bustling for that early in the morning. I popped into a little shop and grabbed a traditional Indian breakfast full of sweet curries and pounded nan-like bread.

I returned back to the hotel and caught up with Brian. The two of us made our way down to China Town to explore and compare with Singapore's China Town. KL's China Town is a bit more "working class" and rough around the edges. Less tourism, less colorful paint and a lot more vendors.


Brian and I stopped into a local cafe that was straight out of the 1940s. The cafe came complete with saloon style swinging doors, dark wood tables topped off with polished marble, and ancient memorabilia hanging on the walls. We ordered some traditional Chinese snacks including some braised pork ribs, soups, and a unique dish called the top hat. Essentially, the top hat is a taco shell in the form of a deep bowl that is shaped like a top hat. The dish comes with fillings (similar to that of a taco) and you fill you top hat with cheese, beans, lettuce, sauce, and anything else you have on the table. The result was fun and delicious.


After our lunch, I decided I wanted to try a fish massage. This is when you stick your legs into a tank full of tiny minnows and they come up and eat the dead skin off your feet and legs. The feeling is very strange. It's as if you have tiny ants walking on your legs and they have suction cups attached to the bottom of the feet (sort of like those "human flies" that try to scale tall buildings in cartoons). I am not sure the health benefits of this, as I hear the water if very unsanitary (filled with dead skin and fish excrement) so I made sure a good long show was in order next time I was home!


After the fish spa, Brian and I went to the market to buy some souvenirs for friends and family. My purchase here was a traditional Song Kok, which is essentially a beautiful felt hat that traditional Malay men wear. It was a stunning piece of craftsmanship and a treasured artifact in my Asian collection!

After walking around all day, Brian and I sat down at a small restaurant for a beer and lunch and met a very nice Burmese waitress. She invited us to a party which we said we would join her for later that evening. But first, it was time to take a nap and get ready for the night!

The evening started out with, of all things, Wiener schnitzel and imported beer. A very strange way to begin, so let's just skip that. Onto better things- the Petronas Towers. We walked over to these two iconic towers made infamous by Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the film "Entrapment" to marvel at their evening beauty. Lit up, they towered over the rest of KL, radiating their prominence and asserting themselves as the very definition of Malaysia.


Leaving the towers, we made our way over to the party district and after walking down a road full of bars and nightclubs, I spotted one that looked like a lot of fun. There was an indoor dance area and an outside seating area. The club was called "Beach Club: or something like that (don't quite recall the name perfectly). Nevertheless, it looked jumping and just right to match our mellow or partying moods (whatever should come of it on the inside).

When we got inside, we discovered a very strange sight- there were a lot of single, foreign girls all standing around just waiting. It didn't take much powers of deduction to reason that these ladies were working girls looking to make a buck. After some dancing, Brian and I sat down at a table and a young Vietnamese girl took a strong interest in Brian (who has a girlfriend and is very faithful, I should mention). Brian had no idea how to react to this, an I just enjoyed watching the interaction between the two of them (particularly when she tried to take his hand)!

Brian resolved the situation by announcing he was going to go dance and leaving her alone with me. We awkwardly sat there for a few minutes, not saying a word (because, really, what was there to talk about?) before we both just walked away. After some more partying, I went upstairs to the bathroom for a short break. Coming out of the bathroom I went over to wash my hands. At this time, there was a very large African woman next to me that just turned to me and said, "Shoot me!"

I looked at her and said, "Excuse me?" to which she again responded, "Shoot me!"

It was then I realized that I had my camera on me and she wanted me to take a picture of her. I told her Okay and did. She said her name was Vivian and that I should go tell my friends I have met the famous Vivian and never to forget her. Well folks, here she is, and don't you forget it!


After the club, we met the waitress again for a few drinks at the party before retiring back home for some sleep! The next day, a bit hungover but not too bad, I took off in the scorching heat to photograph some of the old, colonial KL before Brian woke up and the two of us hitched a cab out the the airport and back home to sweet old Taipei.


From your friend of the Malaysians, Indians, Chinese, Vietnamese, British, American, Burmese, and Liberian all rolled up into one little city, Michael.